


𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚..

by succ_ka_bvi



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sad, Soft Boy Hours, also sad boy hours, and like they're just friends but it's cute so ♡, hard life of the popular kids, jeno wants to comfort chenle but also not lose his reputation basically, lapslock, like always, mentioned other dreamie members but not mark sadly :c i tried, teen and up warning bc of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 13:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18638980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/succ_ka_bvi/pseuds/succ_ka_bvi
Summary: jeno could obviously notice when chenle wasn't himself. it wasn't in his nature to only talk when being spoken to, or to smile timidly and let out a small giggle when someone told a funny joke. usually he'd belt his laughs, a small hand coming down to slap his knee and feet stomping on the ground..





	𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚..

**Author's Note:**

> sad & soft times cuz that's what i'm so into these days oof
> 
> also soft boy! chenle raise yo hands with me,,,,,

jeno could obviously notice when chenle wasn't himself. it wasn't in his nature to only talk when being spoken to, or to smile timidly and let out a small giggle when someone told a funny joke. usually he'd belt his laughs, a small hand coming down to slap his knee and feet stomping on the ground. 

and there were the smaller things jeno seemed to find suspicious, like how chenle's showers seem to take longer than they usually did. and also how he's seen a lot in his room rather than begging one of his hyungs to go out somewhere with him. strange, but it was subtle. jeno didn't know if he was being ridiculous or if there was actually something up with his younger friend, but jeno didn't bring it up at first. 

until things started to slowly worsen. 

you could still get chenle to laugh, even if it wasn't the same anymore. but his expression would change like a lightbulb dying. no one seemed to notice except jeno. 

one time the older had caught jisung chatting to chenle, and jeno stared, amazed at how happy he looked — with his plump cheeks as he smiled, his eyes squinting every time jisung spoke. and his laugh came out in small bursts of giggles, cheeks dusting a light shade of pink. chenle looked as if he was living his best life, up until jisung spotted jaemin stalking up to them. 

jisung called out a quick bye as he went over to the older boy, clearly more invested in their new conversation than to even think about chenle. 

worriedly, jeno glanced back at chenle who looked almost not in the slightest surprised. with a small huff, the boy packed his things just as the bell rang, the tips of his shoes scruffing as he shuffled off to his next class. 

and not only did that happen more than jeno imagined, but jeno was able to see visible changes too.

even the way chenle dressed had changed, going from vibrant colours with his shirt tucked neatly into his trousers to baggy clothes, with jeans if he wanted to at least try a little. chenle had his little excuses, brushing people off once more and more of his friends began to notice, flashing them one of his signature adorable smiles. except jeno saw how difficult it was for him to do so. 

the stars in his eyes were dying, and chenle wasn't as enthusiastic as he used to be. jeno wasn't able to see the boy's hand fly up in class, and it became easy for his friends to talk over him. 

jeno desperately wished he could've spoken to chenle sooner, but engineering class was killing jeno by asking him to stay a lot after classes. and since he was too nice to say a simple ‘i can't, sorry miss’, he stays, resulting in jeno dragging himself back to his dorm and crashing on the bed he newly named heaven. 

of course, there'd be times when jeno would text chenle to check up on him, but it was always difficult to tell how the boy was. and between breaks and study periods, jeno would try to spend as much time with chenle as possible, but with studying and exams in the way jeno would always be the one to walk away from the younger, cursing under his breath as chenle gave him the saddest look. 

what hurt even more though was that chenle always saw it coming. 

people would group up with chenle in class, only to make him do the work and chat amongst themselves. and when their group of friends would go shopping together, they would get chenle to buy them things subtly, and jeno would rather die than let it all happen but he didn't have it in him to talk to jaemin or jisung, who were being the biggest dicks out of them all. 

jeno kept quiet up until now. 

now when he spotted the younger boy turn a corner as he headed back to his dorm. chenle seemed to be rubbing his eyes, either tired out of his mind or wiping tears away — jeno couldn't tell since he could only see the back of chenle. it was predictable to be any of those however. chenle's shoulders seemed smaller and slumped than they usually were, and he took little steps back to his dorm, feet never lifting the ground. and jeno frowned once those feet disappeared, hearing the click of a door shut. 

now, jeno didn't know if he should go and knock, since this is only times he's been free. but there was the possibility that chenle was too tired to answer: it was almost half ten and being a student is exhausting. 

pressing his forehead against the freezing wall, jeno thought about it for a while until he decided to fuck it and at least stay with chenle for the night. 

 

.｡. once jeno had showered and brushed his teeth, the boy left his own dorm, quietly shutting his door so his roommate, injun wouldn't wake — he gets too angry when being woken up and jeno can't deal with that at the moment, so once the door shuts jeno is rushing to chenle's dorm, determination in his steps .｡.

 

“oh, hyung? what are you doing here?” jeno noticed that chenle had changed since the last time he saw him, now in a loose shirt and some sweatpants. not much different from before. 

“just thought i'd spend some time with ya. is that a problem?” jeno smiled at the younger boy, ruffling his blonde hair which felt more frazzled than usual, he had to admit.

the way the younger boy's eyes lit up at that made jeno's eyes turn into crescents. he loved the way that chenle's hair bounced with him when he nodded, hurriedly tugging jeno inside by his sleeve and closing the door, waddling around and kicking clothes under his bed in attempt to clean before the older could see. jeno was quite surprised at the fact that the dorm wasn't as messy as he'd expected though, only the few odd clothes lying about but nothing major. 

“you'd do that? for me?” he then finds chenle sat on his knees, blinking at him and patting the spot in front on the bed. 

kicking his shoes off, jeno wondered why chenle would be so surprising about that, since he heard his other friends mentioning that they were going to visit too sometime. “of course i would. m'doing it right now.” jeno responded, going over to him and getting comfy where chenle's hands once were. 

“it's just that.. you've had a lot of work to do lately, and i don't want you to stay up too much.”

“we don't have to stay up.” jeno placed his hand over chenle's that began to play with a loose string on his sweatpants. “wanna rest?” 

and jeno didn't know why the fuck he said that instead of getting onto the main question of, ‘are you okay’ but the way that chenle smiled suggested that jeno wasn't being a dumbass exactly. “okie dokie.” 

the older let out a small laugh at that, followed by chenle's giggles as he laid back, refusing to release jeno's hand as he joined the younger boy. next thing he knew, their legs were tangled and jeno's face was buried in chenle's hair, the scent he missed filling his nose. it was difficult to describe but he liked to think it was just like resting your nose on a baby's head to keep warm. something along the lines of that anyway. he smelt like fresh babies. 

“where's jisung-ah?” he almost forgot to mention, but it was unusual for the youngest friend to be out this late since he does enjoy a good sleep. 

“oh,” chenle's voice saddens,“he went to stay with jaemin hyung for the night since he felt lonely or something like that..” since jaemin's roommate, donghyuk got kicked out of the dormitories, the boy had been complaining about being alone at night so chenle wasn't lying about that. 

“but what about you?” peeking down at chenle, he noticed how his face was hidden in his chest, almost clinging to him like a koala desperately, as if jeno was about to leave..

“it's okay, because i've got you now!” chenle's head shot up, a wide smile landing on his face, which caused jeno to automatically smile back. 

“you're right, i'm here.” and boy, did jeno mean that in so many ways. 

chenle's grin never failed to leave his face from then on, which spread warmth throughout jeno as he knew he was making chenle happy, distracting the boy from any sad thoughts he'd been having lately. they did rest, but there was no way for jeno to shut the boy up (which he'd never want to do), so he let the boy speak. he let him speak about whatever he wanted. at some point, they ended up deciding which animal each of their friends would be, and what they would get for hyuck's birthday since his was next but still quite far away. but chenle would never speak about himself, always dodging any questions directed at him. whenever jeno would shift slightly, the boy would create a little space between them but his hand would still be grasping onto jeno's until he'd slowly cuddle up to him again. chenle really confused him sometimes. 

jeno stretched out once more, which caused chenle to almost jump back, mentally grounding himself almost and pressing himself against the cold wall behind him. 

“where are you going, mister?” jeno said playfully, scooping chenle in his arms and rolling around with him until chenle ends up laying ontop of him, giggly out of his mind. 

“i was giving you space-” another giggle. “so you could stretch.” chenle sat up. 

“but i was comfy just like that.” tickling the boy's sides, chenle responded with his loud screeches while wiggling about, which jeno did not expect at all. chenle hadn't laughed like that since who knows. 

“c'mere, here you go.” sitting up, jeno took off the hoodie chenle had been tugging on, bunching it up and helping the younger in it. and once his arms wormed through, jeno smoothed it out, putting the hood up and rolling the sleeves up for him. “is that better?” 

he didn't know where the boldness came from, but he figured that chenle'd like it. 

the other responded by nodding his head quickly, bringing the fabric to his nose and sighing contently at the comforting scent. jeno rolled his eyes playfully, laying down once again and holding chenle's smaller hands. “you gonna tell me what's up?” 

“what's up..?” tilting his head slightly, jeno noticed how he bit his lip lightly. “but nothing's up?” 

“i know something's up, c'mon, lel.” and to comfort him, jeno squeezed the hands in his, giving him a reassuring smile. he wasn't exactly the best at this sort of stuff, but it's been bugging him for weeks and he's desperate to know why chenle's been this way. 

“well,” chenle began, breaking eye contact and suddenly becoming way interested in the curtain. “i guess there's something wrong, i guess.. but i don't wanna push my stress onto you. not when you're already busy enough.” 

chenle's fingers fiddles with jeno's own as he looked down ever so slightly, seeming to be biting the inside of his cheek. there was no way chenle was good at being subtle. 

“don't worry about me. hey, look at me.” to get chenle smiling again, jeno tickled his neck slightly. and he wouldn't call chenle's laugh beautiful, because it was rather ear deafening. however it did do the job, a smile peering through the hood as his wide eyes blinked down at him cutely. jeno's voice wavered, “i don't like seeing you upset.” 

“sorry.” chenle giggled out, release jeno's hands to rest his own on his chest. “can i tell you what's been bothering me..?” 

“don't apologise, lele. and yes, please do.” reassuringly, jeno rested his hand on chenle's side, causing the boy to jerk before realising he wasn't about to tickle him, continuing to giggle anyway as he thought of the right words to say. 

 

.｡. “i'm starting to think that you guys don't like to hang out with me anymore.. like, i'm not sure if it's just plain old me being dumb, but-” the small smile on chenle's lips were replaced with a frown. “-whenever i'd text the groupchat to make plans, you guys would already be out together.. and i find it harder to talk to you guys when we're all together in a group, but it's always okay when we're alone. i don't know if it's just me, i'm probably being stupid.” .｡.

 

chenle removed his hands from jeno's chest, deciding to fold his arms over his chest instead and look anywhere but at jeno. 

“hey, hey lel.” jeno tickled under his chin to get his attention once more. “i'm so sorry you think that..” jeno himself had to find the right words to say. “i'm sorry i couldn't hang out with you more — it's just that engineering class is a pain, and i shouldn't make that an excuse, but i've tried to see you.” 

“i know, thank you hyung. you don't have to feel the need to check up on me.. i'll be okay.” before chenle could say more, jeno gently pulled him down so his head could rest on his chest, arms wrapping around his frame. 

“i'll make sure this gets sorted out, don't worry lele.” jeno trailed his fingertips up and down chenle's back, realising how dirty their friends have done him. all the ditching, the talking over him, the money taking. some friends they were. “i'm sure they didn't mean any of it...” 

 

yup, jeno was certainly bad at comforting people.

**Author's Note:**

> i rlly wish my writing was better but the only way to do that is by writing so here i am :p i didn't proof read this so sorry if there's any errors or repeated words 
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> also idk can someone help, idk how to write with dialogue & stuff. like, ik how to do speech but the writing in between i have like no clue how to make it work clearly lmao 
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> one last thing i missed a month & i'm sad :cc didn't write anything in march


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